††††† Moyo's dream in tatters† 12/8/02††††† Story by
newsfocus By Farai Mutsaka

††††† Ever since he assumed office, the junior
minister, who was handpickedby President Mugabe after the June 2000
parliamentary elections, has notmade a secret of his desire to have a
Zimbabwean media that neither sees norhears Zanu PF's evil.

†††††
However, after a dramatic start which saw him pushing throughparliament the
draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act(Aippa) despite
protests from MPs, Moyo has suffered one setback afteranother and seems
incapable of doing anything about it.

††††† Even though over a dozen
journalists have been arrested under thediscredited Aippa, the state has
failed to secure a single conviction,dealing a serious blow to Moyo's quest
to muzzle the press.

††††† The three journalists were facing charges under section 80
of Aippawhich makes it criminal for journalists to publish falsehoods. The
trio werearrested in May after the publication of two stories, one
revealingsex-for-freedom deals involving prostitutes and police officers and
anotherwhich exposed the heavy anti-riot gear equipment purchased by
governmentfrom Israeli arms manufacturer, Beit Alfa Trailer (BAT). The
latter storywas confirmed by the then Israeli foreign minister Shimon
Peres.

††††† However, as the media fraternity waits patiently for a
Supreme Courtruling on a constitutional challenge by the Independent
JournalistsAssociation of Zimbabwe (Ijaz) against some sections of Aippa,
the unelectedminister has been forced to become a spectator as magistrates
freejournalists charged under trumped up charges.

††††† Earnest Mudzengi, a
media analyst attached to the NationalConstitutional Assembly (NCA), said
Aippa was from the start a retrogressivelaw that would never stand any
serious legal scrutiny.

††††† "By cobbling up Aippa, the current regime
showed the world it thriveson insanity because that law is insane. The press
is the lifeblood of anydemocratic society. Ideally, the press should provide
a public platformthrough which people from various social segments can air
their views, be itfor the status quo or against it. These victories show
that government'splan to continue to hang on to power through undemocratic
pieces oflegislation will fail," said Mudzengi.

††††† He added that
the media in Zimbabwe had set a precedent that civicsocieties fighting for
democracy should follow.

††††† "The press in Zimbabwe has proved itself
to be resilient in the faceof immense odds. It has shown a level of
determination that should beemulated by other progressive arms of civic
society," he said.

††††† While other cases are still before the courts,
the majority of arrestsmade under the law have rarely been followed by
prosecution, confirmingfears that the legislation was put in place primarily
to intimidateindependent journalists into silence, as well as extend Moyo's
control ofthe private media.

††††† "The fact that you have very few
cases that have been prosecuted underthis law shows it was never a credible
piece of legislation in the firstplace," said a media lecturer at a
state-owned institution who preferredanonymity.

††††† Reyhana
Masters-Smith, the chairperson of the Media Institute ofSouthern Africa
(Misa), noted that government was sabotaging newspapers bybringing up
trumped up charges against their journalists.

††††† "What is unacceptable
is that the state is wasting time, money andresources on arresting
journalists and then dropping charges. It is adeliberate attempt to sabotage
media organisations. Media organisations arealso forced to spend large
amounts of money fighting unnecessary legalbattles. We are also appalled at
the selective application of Aippa againstthe independent
media.

††††† "That goes to show that there is a deliberate attempt to
curbalternative voices from being heard. The law is targeted at those who
chooseto do their job professionally by holding accountable people who are
inleadership positions. I feel it is difficult to sustain a law that
isselectively applied and that criminalises the profession of
journalism,"said Masters-Smith.

††††† Aippa, which was bulldozed by
Moyo through the Zanu PF parliamentarycaucus and eventually parliament amid
serious resistance from the MDC andsome Zanu PF MPs, received probably the
harshest criticism from theparliamentary legal committee when it was still a
Bill.

††††† Said Eddison Zvobgo, chairman of the committee, when he
presented anadverse report on the Bill to the House: "This Bill, in its
original form,was the most calculated and determined assault on our
liberties guaranteedby the constitution in the 20 years I served as cabinet
minister. Yourcommittee expresses its gratitude to the minister of justice,
legal andparliamentary affairs, honourable Patrick Chinamasa, for his
unstintingheroism, through amendments, to give the Bill a human face. It is
a matterfor regret that some unconstitutional provisions still
remain."

††††† ZIMBABWEANS are set to experience one of their worst ever
festiveseasons following revelations of a soft drinks shortage.

†††††
The Standard understands that United Bottlers, the company solelyresponsible
for the bottling of carbonated soft drinks, lacks the sugarsupplies needed
to manufacture large quantities of drinks required for aholiday
period.

††††† Peter Karimatenga, the general manager in charge of the
manufacture ofsoft drinks at United Bottlers, confirmed in an interview with
The Standardthat they had indeed been receiving insufficient deliveries of
sugar andthat the problem had been exacerbated by the collapse of the
Zimglassfurnace in Gweru, which normally supplied his company with glass
containers.

††††† Said Karimatenga: "It is a combination of two factors.
Firstly, wehave been experiencing problems in getting sufficient sugar
because the ZSRhas been having difficulties getting coal for their blast
furnaces inHarare. The other thing is that Zimglass has not been able to
supply us withglass bottles."

††††† He said they had made proposals
to the ministry of industry andinternational trade for the importation of
sugar but no response had as yetbeen received from that quarter.

††††† AS the situation continues to deteriorate in Zimbabwe one
needs toconsider the possible outcomes. It is difficult to predict the
future,especially so in unstable regions of the world. In order to come up
with anyguesses as to the course of the future one has to clearly understand
theaims and strategies of those holding power.

††††† It is clear that
the fundamental aim of Mugabe and Zanu PF is toretain power at any cost to
the nation, for a number of reasons.

††††† Firstly, there is the need to
avoid retribution. Because of theheinous crimes committed, which include
genocide and corruption at astaggering level the fear of retribution should
a democratically electedgovernment come to power is all
encompassing.

††††† The perpetrators live in daily terror of their crimes
against thepeople becoming known. Because of the culture of fear and secrecy
thesecrimes are very likely to be far worse than so far guessed. Many
crimeshowever are a matter of public record, murders where the perpetrators
areknown, arson where the perpetrators are known and massive corruption
wherethe perpetrators are known.

††††† As an aside, I believe that
analysts could be correct when theysurmise that the regime are trying to
gain a two thirds majority inparliament so that they can alter the
constitution to suit their own ends.When or if this happens, one should
expect the death penalty to be removedand some sort of legislation passed
granting immunity from prosecution tothose presently in power. However, I
would expect these amendments to berepealed by any democratically elected
government.

††††† The second major motivation is pure greed. Those in the
elite haveused the opportunities offered to become obscenely wealthy without
anyproductive effort at all. Insider deals, blackmail and
straightforwardconfiscation have all added to this wealth. Even the armed
forceintervention in the DRC, paid for by the taxpayer, has become a source
ofhuge wealth to some. Contracts are handed out to cronies and all manner
ofcrooked deals are taking place daily.

††††† If those are the aims,
what are the strategies? Firstly, the armedforces and police now operate
merely as enforcers for a criminal regime. Thejudiciary too has been
subverted. There is thus a fertile climate forgangsterism, where there is no
law other than that dictated by the regime,who are not subject to any laws
themselves. Members of the regime havebecome untouchable and immune to
prosecution, whatever the crimes theycommit, including murder.

†††††
Second, the Robin Hood strategy has been very successfullyimplemented. Goods
and property belonging to the 'haves' are seized anddistributed to the
'have-nots'. Because human nature is such that almost allwill jump at the
chance of acquiring something of value without having towork for it, this
has worked extremely well.

††††† It also resonates well with the
fundamental tenets of socialist andcommunist ideology. The goods of others
are parcelled out as rewards to one's followers. This implicates them in
your own crimes and makes themdedicated supporters, because to protest later
would label them as thethieves they are.

††††† An adjunct to this has
been the playing of 'the race card'. By andlarge, the white and Asian
population are better off than the black masses(though not nearly as wealthy
as the new elite.)

††††† Racism lurks in every society and can be fanned
into flame by anymorally bankrupt regime. The examples are endless. It is
also a very emotiveissue in most of Africa. There has also been a cynical
play on thepost-colonial guilt felt by many countries in Europe, where the
negativeaspects are endlessly repeated and the positive aspects are totally
ignored.This has been very effective in paralysing British reaction to the
outrightthuggery and racism of the regime.

††††† Third, common thugs
are used to terrorise the general population. Inthe case of Zimbabwe these
are the so-called 'war veterans' both young andold, and now the infamous
Border Gezi youths. These dregs of humanity aregiven free licence to beat,
rape and steal as they want, with no fear ofretribution other than from
their masters should they fail to please them,or should they step out of
line.

††††† This is a tried and trusted tactic used by all repressive
regimessince time began. These tactics were extensively used, tried and
tested inthe liberation war, where far more black peasants were killed by
theliberation forces than by the Rhodesian army. There was also at that time
adeliberate policy of mutilation, rape and other atrocities to terrorise
thepeople. These tactics are now being recycled.

††††† Fourth, in
order to preserve the status quo as much as possible, greatefforts are made
to disguise a dictatorship as democracy. To this end,elections are blatantly
rigged, opposition members killed and the electorateare terrorised because
there will always be a number of like-minded leaderswho will endorse these
mock elections as being valid. We have seen SouthAfrica, Namibia and others
do just that in the recent past.

††††† Perhaps last but by no means
least, is the control of all news andinformation coming into and going out
of the country. The vast mass of thepeople does not have any access to
unbiased news; they are incessantlybombarded by government propaganda. The
print media are not all governmentcontrolled, and so strenuous efforts are
constantly made to harass anddiscredit the free press. Evidence of the fear
of information can be seen inthe use of government thugs to prevent the
distribution of independentnewspapers in certain areas of the
country.

††††† All internal FM radio stations of the ZBC serve as
propaganda outletsfor the regime. There are two external radio stations, but
they broadcast onshort wave and not many people possess short-wave
receivers.

††††† In summary, the strategy is to ensure the total
breakdown of law andorder and replace it with a system of patronage and
regional warlords.

††††† What then are the possible
outcomes?

††††† In my opinion, violent and systematic opposition is
unlikely. This isbecause the general population are very docile and at
present have nofocussed outside support, whereas the present regime relied
heavily on theeastern bloc for logistical and tactical support in their
day.

††††† Without this support I doubt they would have achieved anything
at all.There may be sporadic riots as starvation grips the nation, but the
well-fedand relatively affluent police and military will put these down
ruthlesslybecause they know they have been compromised and will be called to
accountfor their actions should democracy prevail.

††††† It must also
be realised that the generality of people are unarmed andpowerless in the
face of the government. It is relatively easy for quite asmall proportion of
the population to thoroughly terrorise the majority,most especially when
there is no recourse to law of any kind. Those armchairstrategists calling
for rebellion conveniently forget this vital point.

††††† However, if
foreign-based insurgency should break out, then it wouldprobably be based in
Botswana, Mozambique and possibly Zambia as well.Zimbabwe has vulnerable
borders. South Africa and Namibia would not allowoperations from their soil.
Nujoma openly supports Mugabe and Mbeki tacitlysupports him. This would
become yet another long and bloody African civilwar as in Angola,
Mozambique, Congo and Uganda, totally destroying thecountry in the
process.

††††† Outside intervention is highly unlikely at present. The
USA iscurrently preoccupied with Iraq, and has drawn the EU and UK into
thispreoccupation. Though the US may indeed engage in food drops to
alleviatestarvation, they are unlikely to use military force unless attacked
byZimbabwean armed forces.

††††† Africa has already set the scene for
the most likely outcome. Whatlittle remains of the rule of law will very
soon disappear entirely. Thereis no way that Mugabe and his associates will
relinquish power voluntarily.This must be fully understood by all those
desiring regime change inZimbabwe.

††††† Mugabe and his henchmen have
made certain that it cannot occurdemocratically or peacefully. At present,
the opportunities are limited andthe outlook is bleak.

††††† HOW is it that a government so unpopular and so unable to
deal with somany of the fundamental issues affecting the lives of
Zimbabweans-as theMugabe regime is-seems to be so entrenched in
power?

††††† The list of shortages grows by the day; prices keep
skyrocketing;there is no Aids strategy to speak of while the death toll
mounts;underfunded hospitals are merely places to go and die in; hunger
stalks theland in the midst of the political decimation of agriculture
accompanied bydrought; companies that have not yet gone under stumble from
day to day;government officials work overtime to enact ever more repressive
laws andZimbabwe continues to be a pariah state. How does Mugabe hang on in
the faceof this amazing catalogue of failure?

††††† Part of the
answer lies in the highly developed apparatus of fear thathas countless
manifestations, some subtle and others not so subtle. One ofthe factors that
make it so sophisticated is that it is not necessarilyapparent. If you are a
Zimbabwean who generally keeps his or her head downpolitically, or a
foreigner visiting parts of the urban areas or touristresorts for a few
days, you are unlikely to come face to face with theapparatus of fear that I
talk about.

††††† Apart from the hired visiting foreign guns who
dutifully parrot theregime's sanitised version of life in Zimbabwe, we have
also observedvisitors who come on their own and are genuinely puzzled about
what all thefuss is about, when Zimbabwe superficially seems to be so
peaceful andorderly. The riot police they expect to see at every street
corner are notin evidence, there is no blood flowing in the streets and
Zimbabweans goabout their business in their usual easy-going style. Where is
the evidencethen, of the repression of the Mugabe government they have heard
so muchabout?

††††† The very subtlety of it is what makes it
difficult to detect, and yetit so devastatingly and oppressively effective.
Ruling with a ruthless ironfist, while simultaneously giving the impression
of normality, calm andbenevolence on the surface, is a tactic the Mugabe
government has masteredfar better than the Smith regime.

††††† The
sophistication of the oppression, helped greatly by theeasy -going,
obedient, respectful nature of the Zimbabwean character Ialluded to earlier,
makes for a deadly mix, and answers the questionincreasingly asked by many
Zimbabweans, as well as many others in the world,as to why we seem so
helpless in the face of a government that cannot pointto anything that it
can claim to be doing right for the country.

††††† Crooked ministers with
shady backgrounds are the same people given thepower to draft, ram through
and enthusiastically push for the enforcement ofall kinds of petty laws that
seem to criminalise what would ordinarily passfor public and individual
sentiment in a genuinely free country.

††††† Top civilian politicians and
uniformed men better known for theirruthless suppression of their fellow
citizens are openly, admiringly toutedas future presidents and subsequently
promoted and protected. The messagethat there is a different set of rules
for these dubious characters isinternalised in the population. It is
understood by the subjects that notonly are these men immune from
prosecution for their transgressions, but mayactually hold on to their power
because of them, as it makes them interestedstake holders in the existing
system of corruption and oppression.

††††† On the one hand, we understand
the chilling message the rulerscleverly intend for us through their symbolic
actions (or inactions), whileon the other hand in parliament, in the
cabinet, at parades and other foraand ceremonies,we are expected to react to
the rulers as if they wereordinary, clean public servants, instead of some
of the key players inpreserving the dysfunctional status quo.

†††††
It is not necessary for them to come right out and tell us that we hadbetter
behave ourselves, or else. We are expected to read between the linesand
through various symbolisms, just how far we can go towards expressingour
sickness and tiredness at seeing the way our country has in every waygone to
the dogs.

††††† If a minister known to be a thief is appointed and
retained for years,even when rejected by the voters, it is quite clear that
no amount of publicprotestation at the thieving ways or other crimes of the
powerful who arefavoured will make any difference. The impunity with which
they can go abouttheir activities helps to plant the seed of fear in us, but
it is all donein such a subliminal, genteel way that the regime can still
argue that weare a representative democracy.

††††† The increasingly
blatant fixing of elections is an interesting way oftrying to hold on to the
last shreds of a democratic veneer, while making itclear that something as
petty as the will of the people is not going to beallowed to upset the
status quo. The use of the fear of even greaterstarvation than already
existed in the Insiza constituency, for example, wasused to produce the
desired result in the recent parliamentary by-electionthere.

†††††
Even if the constituents knew they were being 'played' cynically, suchis the
power of the fear of hunger, and of defying an authority whoseruthlessness
people in that part of the country are keenly, bitterly awareof, that many
of them felt they had to go along, even if they knew the foodbait would
disappear within days of the announcement of the result,whichever way it
went. That is the manifestation of the power of fear thatkeeps people in
line.

††††† On an even cruder level, selective beatings, torture and rape
areused, with the perpetrators rarely brought to book. Many of the
incidencesare not even reported, because many of us no longer know if we
have anyreason to continue having faith in the police or the judiciary. As a
result,even those of us who are not direct victims are cowed and fearful,
doing ourbest not to incur the wrath of the authorities because we don't
believe wewould have recourse if abused. By making examples of a few people
outsidethe glare of the limelight, the rest of us get the message of what
canhappen to us if we dare express unhappiness at our situation a little
toovociferously.

††††† An interesting thing about using fear as a
tool of power is it'scorrosive effect on it's perpetrator. When a man who
has openly boasted ofhis capacity for violence, who often speaks in terms of
threats, and whoseparty sees no shame in making official heroes out of its
leading enforcersof violence, has to publicly confess that the increasingly
difficult effortto keep a lid on a situation that is fast ravelling out of
control causeshim headaches and stomach aches, that is the boomerang effect
of fear atwork. You are used to inflicting fear, but now it is eating you up
as well.

††††† Hence the astonishing, widely derided need to cook up laws
that makeit a criminal offence to make gestures thought to be disparaging of
thepresidential motorcade. That is raw fear and paranoia at work, a case
ofwhat you sent around, coming around.

††††† On one level, because we
have been given ample evidence over the yearsthat if we do not behave as
expected in response to the subtle threats, theauthorities are not at all
averse to using more direct, cruder, bloodiermethods to keep us under
control, it is understandable that we succumb tothe fear, as intended. But
on the other hand, as invincible as the apparatusof fear may seem, all it
takes to overcome it is for enough of us to masterour fear sufficiently to
refuse to be intimidated.

††††† Are there enough Zimbabweans who are
tired enough of cowering on theirknees in fear of the brutal authorities to
refuse to continue to beintimidated and silenced as this country sinks ever
lower by every measureyou can think of?

††††† True to form, a troubled central African country's
minister forevasive answers to difficult questions about fuel supplies was
proved wrongwhen he said fuel would be in plentiful supply last
week.

††††† On a similar note, bookmakers taking bets on the issue
madeconsiderable amounts of money when the promised fuel did not
materialise.Sadly they were unable to spend the money on petrol because
there was none.

††††† Meanwhile the troubled central African nation's
innovative economistspromised a bleak Christmas. One economist went so far
as to dub the economicpolicies of the troubled central African country as
"fantasy economics". Hesaid this was in the spirit of the Christmas season
which was largely a timeof fantasy.

††††† "It'll have to be a time of
fantasy because it can't be a time ofgiving," he said, adding that there
would be nothing to give.

††††† Another economist said it required a leap
of the imagination forresidents of the troubled central African country to
get through the festiveseason without too much depression. "We'll be putting
virtual petrol intoour motor cars in order to go virtual shopping for
virtual gifts," he said.He explained that this was necessary because there
was no real petrol and itwas unlikely that there would be any real gifts
either.

††††† "Only our virtual government can really expect people to
sell thingsfor less than they cost," he pointed out.

††††† Still, the
troubled central African country's virtual governmententrenched its position
on the economy. Decrees from the ministry of fantasyeconomics stated that
from this month every item sold would be sold at aloss, thus depriving
hundreds of thousands of their jobs and thousands ofbusinessmen of their
businesses. Explaining the logic, a spokesman from theministry, speaking off
the record, said this was acceptable because the joblosses would occur
mainly in the urban areas, and everyone knew that theseareas were populated
exclusively by members of the More Drink Coming (You'llbe lucky) party and
other such traitors.

††††† "When all these businesses have gone broke
because their white,opposition, capitalist, neo-imperialist owners have
sabotaged the economy,we will take them over and hand them to qualified and
incorruptible membersof the Zany RF party who will restore the economy in 48
hours," said thespokesman on condition he was not quoted.

††††† Asked
why the Zany party had renamed itself the Zany RF party, thespokesman said
he had no idea, but it was something to do with historicalsimilarities
between itself and a previous government that also hadadmirable views on law
and order. Still, it was noteworthy that the new ZanyRF party had managed to
bankrupt the country far more efficiently than itspredecessor and it
deserved recognition for this amazing accomplishment.

††††† Returning to
the economic climate in the troubled central Africancountry, the spokesman
said it was a lie that there were shortages, addingthat just this morning
his wife had made piles of toast and he fullyexpected to have sadza for his
supper.

††††† Asked how he managed to acquire such luxuries when the rest
of thecountry was starving, the spokesman emphasised that no patriotic
citizenwith a current party card (from the right party) would go hungry. It
was asimple matter to get such a card and if one was youthful enough, one
couldalso get a smart green uniform that was a passport to success and
ahunger-free Christmas, he explained.

††††† "By joining Dzaku Dzaku,
you are not only fulfilling your patrioticand socialist duty, you are also
guaranteeing yourself and your family ahappy Christmas and a particularly
prosperous new year," said the spokesman.

††††† THERE has been so much comment in the past two-and- a-
half yearsabout the role that various churches and church leaders are
playing, orshould be playing, in the political life of
Zimbabwe.

††††† Last Thursday, the Ecumenical Documentation and
Information Centre inSouthern Africa (EDICISA) held a workshop in Harare for
media and churchworkers on how the media can advance the cause of peace in
this country.EDICISA should be congratulated for taking up the cudgels in a
peaceful wayto challenge both the Church and the journalists to become
forces for changein Zimbabwe.

††††† There is a very important reason
why the church, in partnership withthe media, should be involved in this
process. The church is and should beconcerned about the whole issue of the
struggle for peace, justice andreconciliation in Zimbabwe. This is a task
which the church cannot in anyway be absolved of, or hand over the
responsibility to others. Indeed thatshould be the central mission of the
church anywhere in the world.

††††† In fact, EDICISA was born out of a
conference of Church leaders ofsouthern Africa which was held in Harare, on
14-16 July 1986. Thatconference was held under the theme "The role of
Churches in the LiberationProcess of Southern Africa".

††††† At that
time, apartheid was rearing its ugly head in both South Africaand Namibia.
And Zimbabwe, though far from perfect, was neverthelessrespected for its
reconciliation policy, justice, good governance,reconstruction and
development. That is why the conference was held inZimbabwe in the first
place.

††††† Fourteen years later in 2000, Zimbabwe has descended into a
tunnel ofmadness and the struggle for justice, peace and reconciliation is
back infocus. The tables have been turned. We are back at the starting
point, so tospeak. This is the serious dilemma in which the church, the
media andZimbabweans as a whole find themselves.

††††† Like in
apartheid South Africa, there is a growing thrust of themomentum of justice,
peace and human rights in the hearts of millions ofZimbabweans on one hand,
and the growing fear of the minority black rulingelite that they will lose
everything they have looted in recent years on theother. A classic situation
of polarisation, of conflict and possiblebloodshed.

††††† Where does
the church stand in this regard? What role should thechurch be playing in
this classic situation? For clearly, the democracydeficit in Zimbabwe has
become a huge one.

††††† We publish in this issue a letter to the Editor
by Rev Graham Shaw ofBulawayo, in which he accuses the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches (ZCC) ofbeing a cruel betrayal to the victims of injustice and
oppression, ofappeasement and being politically correct and endorsing a
situation which isclearly untenable.

††††† We agree wholeheartedly
with these observations and sentiments. Savefor two or three church leaders,
notably Archbishop Pius Ncube and RetiredRev Tim Neil, the church has failed
this country. What use is the churchwhen it cannot stand in critical
solidarity with the poor and the oppressed,the hungry and the starving? The
Zimbabwe Council of Churches is clearlysupping with the devil when it cannot
condemn, consistently and regularly,the conditions that have given rise to
the tragedy that is now consumingZimbabwe.

††††† We know that the
response of ZCC will be, "Ah, but we are feeding thehungry and starving."
Yes, you are, but that is not enough. This craftytwist of the truth serves
the new ruling black elite well. From the rulingclass point of view, these
activities are conveniently conspicuous andharmless. They give the
appearance that something is underway, therebythrowing a smokescreen over
the deeper causes of poverty, the breakdown ofthe rule of law, violation of
human rights and the destruction of theeconomy in the name of land
redistribution exercise.

††††† Merely calling on "that there may be pace
and prosperity" and callingupon "the newly resettled farmers to make the
possible use of land entrustedto them", as the Zimbabwe Council of Churches
did in their recent pressstatement, is to evade the central core of the
problem in thiscountry-namely power and greed, as well as political
legitimacy through atransparent, free and fair electoral process. On this
and many other deeperissues, there is deafening silence from the Zimbabwe
Council of Churches.Are ZCC leaders content to be merely church leaders
rather than Christianleaders? That is the question.

††††† We are here
challenging the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and otherChurch leaders to
examine their own consciences, to look at themselves inthe mirror and be
true to their deepest nature and come forward and presentto the Zimbabwean
society the essential meaning of the message which youproclaim as good news.
And good news is news based on truth, based on whatis actually happening in
the lives of people and communities.

††††† The majority of Christian
leaders in Zimbabwe are so far behind intheir understanding of what is
actually happening on the ground in Zimbabwe.They are preaching a gospel
which in many respects is far removed from theactual sphere of the struggle
and suffering of the people. ZCC does appearto be living on a different
planet from the rest of us ordinary folks.

††††† What a pity that there
are so many churches and church leaders, but sofew Christians actually
participating to address the deeper causes of theZimbabwean tragedy. Be they
ordained or self-appointed, operating from acathedral or an open field,
dressed in religious finery or a white sheet,these charlatans and false
prophets cannot hide from God the cruel betrayaland
insincerity.

††††† True Christians have the courage and moral conviction
of the Son ofGod whom they claim to follow. True Christians openly practise
consistentlyHis teachings of love, truth and justice. True Christians do not
supportevil and neither do they promote racism in the Church. They do not
issuebland and ineffective statements that amount to appeasement and support
fora corrupt political system.

††††† By not siding openly with the
victims of violence, injustice andoppression, you, the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches, will one day faceJudgement Day. Are you ready for it?

†††††
THE once noble teaching profession has become the object of derisionbecause
of the policies of the Mugabe regime.

††††† I regret having chosen this
profession. What pride is there in aprofession that does not have adequate
renumeration for its members many ofwhom now live below the poverty datum
line?

††††† Us teachers are subjected to much scorn from illegal gold
panners,omnibus touts and even vegetable street vendors who obviously make
threetimes more than we do in just one week. Everyone, including our pupils,
knowthat we are the least paid civil servants in Mugabe’s
Zimbabwe.

††††† Chigwedere and the government are unaware of the fact
that many of usrural teachers are having to sell sweets, freezits and
biscuits to try tomake ends meet. What else can we do?

††††† Those
who fail to survive this way, are forced to borrow money for busfare from
the pupils who are only too eager to help. What do Chigwedere,Leonard Nkala
of Zimta and the government make of this?

††††† Chigwedere and his
ministry recently sent circulars to schoolscommanding that teachers be in
suits when executing their duties. Where onearth does he think we will get
the money to buy suits which now cost over$40 000 each? Chigwedere should
move around the rural schools and see howteachers are faring. He will see
teachers in old tattered clothing andshoes.

††††† The proposed 80%
salary adjustment to be effected in January is simplyan insult to teachers.
Is that what Leonard was negotiating for? Who is moreentitled to an
increment, the top government official or the teacher?

††††† BULAWAYO-A senior Zanu PF official, Agrippa Mdlalo
Ndlukula, was onWednesday assaulted by war veterans inside the chambers of
the Insiza RuralDistrict Council after he insisted that landless youths
rather than agovernment minister, should take over a rich farm in
Matabeleland South.

††††† Ndlukula, who is the district treasurer for
Filabusi, was beaten up ata meeting called to resolve a wrangle over a
section of the prime ranch,Goddard Farm.

††††† The farm, which
stretches from the Fort Rixon commercial farming areadown into the Filabusi
communal area, is suitable for cattle and animalranching. That part of the
ranch which is up for grabs, was surrendered tothe government a few months
ago by its owner identified only as Goddard.

††††† The Standard
understands that this section of the farm has causedserious squabbles within
the leadership circles of the Zanu PF Matabelelandbranch because, on the one
hand, a group of landless youths occupying theland are insisting that they
are the rightful owners of the land while onthe other, Sithembiso Nyoni, the
minister of small and medium enterprisesdevelopment has also laid claim to
the farm.

††††† On Wednesday, the Insiza District Coordinating committee
called ameeting at the chambers of the Insiza Rural District Council to
decide onthe ownership of the farm.

††††† Sources at the meeting told
The Standard that tempers flared when ZanuPF district treasurer for
Filabusi, Ndlukula, insisted that the farm went toits youthful
occupiers.

††††† "Ndlukula was steadfast in his insistence that the farm
should go tothe youths of the district. But the war veterans who supported
SithembisoNyoni, handcuffed him and beat him thoroughly using fists and
booted feet.Ndlukula suffered head injuries and was treated at Filabusi
districthospital," said the source.

††††† "The officer in charge is
on leave and I cannot give you thatinformation," was all that the anonymous
officer could say after a long waitwhile he consulted with other officers in
the background.

††††† Zanu PF card now a prerequisite for
traders††††† By Chengetai Zvauya

††††† THE ruling Zanu PF, now
regarded by many as a rural political party,has embarked on a violent
campaign to regain lost ground in a capital citydominated by the opposition
MDC.

††††† The campaign which kicked off in Mbare high density suburb two
monthsago, has already turned the populous area, the first port of call for
mostvisitors to Harare, into a political hotbed.

††††† Residents of
the suburb who talked to The Standard at the weekend saidZanu PF militia had
set up terror bases in areas such as Magaba, Jo'burglines and Shawasha
hostels where several people, perceived to be MDCsupporters, were being
relentlessly beaten up.

††††† It also emerged that only Zanu PF
supporters were being allowed totrade at the Siyaso and Mupedzanhamo flea
markets, where over the years,many unemployed people have derived their
livelihood.

††††† Several informal traders told The Standard that the
only way theycould guarantee marketing space was if they attended the
frequently heldZanu PF meetings.

††††† "They have simply made it
clear that if you are not Zanu PF, you maynot trade in Mbare. If you shun
their meetings, you are simply invitingtrouble from the militias. The police
won't even help you," said a traderwho has spent much of her adult life
selling home grown tobacco at MbareMusika.

††††† A man from Block
Number 7, Shawasha Flats who preferred to beidentified only as Constantine,
told The Standard that he had also fallenvictim to the militant Zanu PF
supporters.

††††† "I was beaten up in Magaba by some Zanu PF youths
belonging to aterror group called Chipangano. The group moves around the
constituencyattacking families known to be MDC supporters. The attacks
normally occurafter rallies," said Constantine.

††††† At these
meetings, The Standard was told, Zanu PF officials take timeto remind people
of how Zimbabwe was won through a bitter armed strugglewhich could easily be
evoked again if there was a danger of the countryreturning to the Rhodesians
via the MDC.

††††† At these meetings, scarce commodities such as mealie
meal are readilyavailable.

††††† Tichaona Munyanyi, the MP for the
Mbare East constituency alsoconfirmed that Zanu PF officials, backed by
their militia, had beencampaigning day and night in the area.

†††††
In an interview with The Standard, Munyanyi said he believed that
thecampaign was aimed at wrestling the constituency from him.

†††††
The legislator was arrested a few months ago on allegations ofattempting to
murder Ali Manjengwa, a Zanu PF activist shot dead in Mbare.

†††††
Munyanyi was subsequently remanded in custody for two months and wasonly
allowed out on being granted bail of $50 000 bail by the High Court.However,
his health has greatly deteriorated due to an illness, he claimsbegan while
he was in the cells.

††††† "It sounds weird that people can campaign for
your post when you haven't yet been convicted of any offence, but it's
happening. Zanu PF youths andmilitia are already flushing out members of the
opposition in the Mbare areain anticipation of the much talked about 'by
election'. They are tellingresidents that I will soon be locked up and the
seat declared vacant. I knowthat Tony Gara is behind these youths who are
beating up people because heis interested in my post," said Munyanyi, his
voice betraying deep anguish.

††††† Contacted for comment, Gara who lost
to Munyanyi in the June 2000parliamentary elections, dismissed the MDC
legislator's assertions.

††††† "I cannot ask people to beat each other so
that they can vote for me.Munyanyi must not tarnish my name for no good
reason. Ngaasiyane neni azivezvekusungwa kwake. I have been a leader in that
constituency for 20 years sothere is no way I can incite violence in that
area," said Gara.

††††† Market records sudden high† 12/8/02††††† Story
by By our own Staff

††††† THE stock market gained 18% in the past week
with 55 out of 77counters recording gains. However, analysts have predicted
that the'resurrection' could be short-lived as the remaining weeks in the
year arelikely to be characterised by profit taking as some fund managers
take earlyleave from investing.

††††† Analysts say the sudden high in
the market was because investors hadrealised that despite the carnage, the
stock market remained the onlyprofitable investment option available.
"Investors have nowhere to get realvalue for money and are now coming back
to the market. There are no otherviable investment opportunities that are
better than the market at themoment," said Patrick Saziwa, an analyst with
Kingdom Stock Brokers.

††††† The market took a dive just after the budget
was unveiled resulting insmall investors and speculators panicking enough to
sell their equity.Analysts attributed the sudden plunge to the budget, which
they said was notinvestor friendly. The investors were also uncertain as to
the impact of thenew foreign currency exchange policy announced by the
governor of the RBZ,Leonard Tsumba.

††††† The investors, analysts
say, do not believe they have reason to beoptimistic. "Investors have also
realised that nothing much will change,though there was lack of clarity on
the foreign exchange rate and interestrate policies. The gains may, however,
only be recorded in the short tomedium term," said one analyst.

†††††
By close of trade on Thursday, most counters had gained significantlybut
analysts noted that the volumes were still thin.

††††† Some investors
told Standard Business that the weak market was set tospill over into the
first two months of next year. Saziwa said: "At themoment, we foresee the
market maintaining but on the weak side untilcompanies start announcing
their results in March."

††††† Truworths topped the week's top five
risers with a 62,5% rise amidspeculation of a share split. In spite of the
unclear exchange policy,investors are taking the risk on counters with a
foreign perspective.

††††† Old Mutual rose 51,9% to trade at $1 200 and
analysts say the share istrading at a discount to parallel rate. PPC
continues to firm up putting$200 on the week.

††††† Good results
lifted ART up by 50% to trade at $45, while TZI traded at$50,75 to record a
49,3% rise. Meikles and BATZ were the highest risers ofthe week gaining
53,5% and 40% respectively.

††††† Major recoveries were recorded for
ABCH, Afdis, Delta, TZI, Astra,Gulliver, M&R, Meikles, Old Mutual and
Bicaf. There were no major losses andanalysts said this probably indicates a
'temporary" improvement in marketsentiment.

††††† What this story
means: The ups and downs of the stock market aremaking it even more
difficult for brokers to decide where to put theirmoney. If past records are
anything to go by, the stock market may be weakerand volumes thinner in the
coming week due to profit taking and to somebrokers taking early breaks.

††††† National service for teachers† 12/8/02†††††
Story by By Parker Graham

††††† MASVINGO-Some headmasters and teachers
from Masvingo's sevenadministrative districts will from tomorrow begin their
stint in the widelycondemned national youth training service programme, in a
pilot project setto be replicated across the country in a few months time,
The Standard canreveal.

††††† The first batch of teachers and
headmasters expected in camp tomorrow,will be based at Mushagashe Training
Centre, some 30 kilometres outside ofMasvingo.

††††† Their course
will last until 13 January 2003, although theparticipants will be allowed a
break for the Christmas and New Yearholidays.

††††† The programme,
which was meant to be top secret, came to light onFriday when a disgruntled
civil servant disclosed to The Standard thatmilitant war veterans leader,
Joseph Chinotimba was scheduled to addressheadmasters and teachers of the
recently formed Teachers Union of Zimbabwe(TUZ) at Victoria Junior School in
Masvingo.

††††† The TUZ, an affiliate of Chinotimba's Zimbabwe Federation
of TradeUnions (ZFTU) which is aligned to the Zanu PF regime, has been
tasked withdestroying the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
which hascompletely routed the traditional government ally, the Zimbabwe
TeachersAssociation (Zimta).

††††† The Standard managed to sneak into
the meeting, also attended by warveterans and state security agents, where
Chinotimba successfully coercedteachers and headmasters into undergoing the
discredited national servicetraining.

††††† Said a highly charged
Chinotimba: "Without this orientation (nationalservice), the government will
always treat you with suspicion. To be honestwith you, headmasters and
teachers present here, those who fail to do thistraining will not get some
of the benefits which those who will haveundergone the training will
receive.

††††† "We discovered that most of you teachers have been
sympathising withthe opposition MDC and are still drilling MDC politics into
our children. Sofor you to be in harmony with the government you must go for
the training.You can only be patriotic if you undergo this
course."

††††† Chinotimba also told the teachers that participants in the
firstintake would automatically replace the 700 teachers fired for embarking
onthe PTUZ organised strike in Harare.

††††† Addressing the concerns
of headmasters who said they were too old toundergo the training, Chinotimba
said: "You are not going to toyi-toyi likethe youths, but you will have to
be drilled in theories of national serviceand then you can go
back."

††††† After his address, some known Zanu PF supporters among the
headmastersand teachers, urged their fellows to take up the offer and
eventually it wasagreed that the first batch, comprising 120 educationists,
would commencetheir training tomorrow and continue until 13 January
2003.

††††† Contacted for comment yesterday, Chinotimba admitted that he
hadtravelled to Masvingo for a meeting with TUZ members, but denied
havingthreatened teachers and headmasters into submitting to the
programme.

††††† "National service is not forced. It is a voluntary thing
which is notconfined to the youth alone. Students and teachers and even old
people cango there. Even you can come to either myself or Cde Elliot Manyika
and askto go for national service so that you can write your stories well,"
saidChinotimba.

††††† Raymond Majongwe, the secretary-general of the
PTUZ confirmed that hisorganisation was aware of the secret programme for
teachers.

††††† "We are aware of that plan and already know of some
teachers who havegone through it. It is totally unacceptable because it
defeats the wholepurpose of having teachers in society if they are going to
be ideologicallyaligned with a certain political party through such a
training programme.Teachers should rise above party ideologies," he
said.

††††† Teachers, who constitute the bulk of the civil service, have
been atthe receiving end of the wrath of the Zanu PF regime over their
allegedreluctance to support the ruling party which views them as community
leadersin the rural areas.

Bikita, Zimbabwe - The crop fields are lush green in Bikita.
But 1 000 hungry people in this remote southern area of Zimbabwe queue quietly
under the midday sun for food aid. They're just a fraction of the eight million
starving in this southern African country. Each person standing in this feeding
centre queue in Bikita, some 240km south-east of Harare, has come to collect aid
for at least two other people. Most of those waiting bear no visible signs of
hunger - no really emaciated bodies here, no protruding ribs. They have been
subsisting on wild fruit, one of those queuing tells reporters. The feeding
centre, reached down a dirt track of several kilometres, is manned by aid agency
Care for the UN's World Food Programme. Villagers are called up to receive their
rations - corn meal and beans - according to the villages they come from. The
orderly queue is disturbed momentarily by a pair of cavorting donkeys, who send
children shrieking and screaming. "Our major problems are hunger, a serious
drought and no rains," said Louise Nyambirai, an elderly woman from Madzvara
village, about five kilometres away. Elderly people are among those suffering
most in the current crisis, a Care field officer says. Many of them cannot read
or write and therefore fail to get registered for food aid. "The law of the
jungle is taking its toll here," said the official, George Baloyi. He explained
that the elderly illiterate have to rely on the village headman's younger scribe
taking down their details. But often the scribe makes sure his own family gets
priority on the list. "People with influence want to survive. They (the elderly)
don't have any form of influence. They can't read, they can't write." One
example is 70-year-old Seraphina Mawere. Leaning on her stick, barefoot and with
a woollen cap protecting her head from the sun, she has been forced to walk from
village to village begging for food. She has never been on a food list.

The Aids pandemic, rife in rural areas like Bikita, aggravates
the problem. "What you've got is this poisonous, ugly concoction of Aids and
famine. The immune systems are so shorn of strength because of the hunger, that
people die more quickly," the UN's special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen
Lewis, said on a visit to Bikita on Friday. A shortage of basic medicines to
treat HIV patients meant that people in the area were "dying under the most
grotesque of circumstances," he said, adding that the problem of Aids orphans
had become overwhelming. "Every day the numbers of orphans go up," he said.
There have been accusations that food aid is being distributed along party
political lines in Zimbabwe. "We tell people that food should not be used as a
weapon to square up scores with your enemies," Care official George Baloyi says.
He points to the white sacks of US-provided corn and beans that are being shared
among the hungry villagers. "It should be used freely, as it comes to us a free
gift." However, people waiting in the queues complained that the rations - which
are provided once a month - lasted the average family only eight days. The rest
of the time they have to go back to their diet of wild fruit. Zimbabwe is the
worst-hit of six southern African countries facing famine. And according to the
UN's Lewis, only 56% of the food required by the WFP to feed hungry Zimbabweans
has been met by donors. Meanwhile the numbers of hungry people continue to
mount. The green fields offer no promise of a food-filled tomorrow. Already the
maize which has germinated is wilting in the oppressive heat. The
desperately-needed rains have not arrived yet this season."There's no hope,"
villager Serina Murindiwa said. The maize her village planted had already died
from lack of rain, she said. Without rain the trees will soon stop bearing fruit
to see them through.